Made a new glue chisel

[dunbarhamlin]

Started new practice regime at the weekend, MTs and DTs every night straight after work.

But I find this evening that I need some new chisels - though I do have a nice new canted glue chisel ( :x )

So now I'm down to the relative merits of Mr Iles's D2 and LN's A2 - sockets don't really appeal, but can anyone comment on amount of prep work that might be required for Ray Iles' pig stickers? Hear tell that D2 is a beast to grind, so if they're as 'flat' as AI bench chisels, could tip me towards LN.

Thanks
Steve

 

[JesseM]

I have 3 of the AI mortise chisels and have not found them any worse than A2. They came with a primary bevel of around 20 degrees and a secondary around 30-35. You can get away with just a final honing. I had never used the oval style handles before and found them to work fantastically.

 

[dunbarhamlin]

Thanks JesseM
Am just about ready to jump - Will make up a handle to size to see how it suits and then make sure I can't source them in the UK to avoid the carbon footprint from the round trip across the Atlantic before ordering.
Cheers
Steve

 

[JesseM]

I'm not sure how you will use them but you can really wail on them. They are monsters and very sturdy. I have a set of sash style mortise chisels and I like the AI's a lot better.

 

[Alf]

You could further reduce your carbon footprint by buying secondhand, given that we have the good fortune to reside in The Land Of The Oval Bolstered Mortise Chisel. The 'Murrican market can, it seems, be relied upon to keep Ray in business.

Cheers, Alf

 

[Anonymous]

I bought 2nd hand 1/2" OBM from Ray Isles a few months ago. Here it is next to a Marples sash 1/2" and a firmer1/2":

Bit of a beast and does the job!
It was a cheaper than some ebay prices and less than half of Iles's new price.
I'd highly recommend something like it.
The LN ones are a bit odd IMHO as they are parallel sided which is not good, and a bit slender - but not quite a sash chisel as they are over square. And *****expensive!
Re "prep work" - if new chisel needs more than a quick hone you should send it back. If you buy an old rusty one you just need to hone it and scrape off the rust a bit! Fettling tools is a bit of an obsession with yer modern woodworker it seems - you certainly don't need that engineering standard flatness for a mortice chisel.

cheers
Jacob

 

[dunbarhamlin]

Thanks folks. With what you've given, I'm happy these are what I'm after - still trying to source locally first, and will fill in the blanks with antediluvian examples as and when.
Thanks again, all
Steve

 

[bugbear]

I bought 2nd hand 1/2" OBM from Ray Isles a few months ago. Here it is next to a Marples sash 1/2" and a firmer1/2":

You'll be happy to hear that rounded bevels are universally recommend for large mortice chisels of that type

BugBear

 

[Anonymous]

I bought 2nd hand 1/2" OBM from Ray Isles a few months ago. Here it is next to a Marples sash 1/2" and a firmer1/2":

You'll be happy to hear that rounded bevels are universally recommend for large mortice chisels of that type

BugBear

Hmm, sense of deja view here. It's that which sent me off here in the first place - to arrive at recommending rounded bevels universally, for almost everything :lol: And it works brilliantly!

cheers
Jacob

 

[dunbarhamlin]

One other thing - I do often need to chop a 3/4" wide mortice. To date, I've nibbled away with a straight sided firmer, but what is the usual approach?

Am thinking probably better to chop two 1/4" channels to define the sides and then remove the central waste, rather than use a wider chisel, which then would mean chopping without supporting/guiding wall on one side.

Thanks
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

One other thing - I do often need to chop a 3/4" wide mortice. To date, I've nibbled away with a straight sided firmer, but what is the usual approach?

Am thinking probably better to chop two 1/4" channels to define the sides and then remove the central waste, rather than use a wider chisel, which then would mean chopping without supporting/guiding wall on one side.

Thanks
Steve

What are you making with this 3/4 mortice? If it's a big bit of furniture or a door frame etc then a 3/4 OBM and a big heavy mallet.
On the other hand some things might be better just nibbled at.

cheers
Jacob

 

[dunbarhamlin]

I use these for the join between neck and body on larger instruments.

An inch long and between 2 1/2" & 4" deep, open at one end - like a deep blind lap (I think that's the jargon) with an anti-haunch (don't know the name for this, instead of a sloped bite out of the mortice end, there's a sloped notch in the tenon at the shoulder line and a matching lip in the edge of the mortice) so I can saw nearly halfway. Also use similarly proportioned tapered dovetails.

The sides have to be spot on, but the tenon (or tail) is left 1/8" short so the joint can be steamed open if need be.

 

[Anonymous]

I use these for the join between neck and body on larger instruments.

An inch long and between 2 1/2" & 4" deep, open at one end - like a deep blind lap (I think that's the jargon) with an anti-haunch (don't know the name for this, instead of a sloped bite out of the mortice end, there's a sloped notch in the tenon at the shoulder line and a matching lip in the edge of the mortice) so I can saw nearly halfway. Also use similarly proportioned tapered dovetails.

The sides have to be spot on, but the tenon (or tail) is left 1/8" short so the joint can be steamed open if need be.

I wonder if you need mortice chisels at all - nibbling is probably better, saw, drill out waste, bevel edge chisel etc. Like dovetailing in fact.
A mortice chisel is for hacking out forcefully at speed - somehow not appropriate to music instrument making. Unless you've got a bit of a production line going e.g. 20 mortices at a time.

cheers
Jacob

 

[dunbarhamlin]

probably right - but it feels like an age to get those small few cubic inches of wood out with a light chisel and palm pressure or gentle persuader. Final fitting is done when it's starting to look like an instrument, but since I dont use a tailed router (the usual method these days) I cut my mortice when it is still just a squared block (anything up to 4x5x8 inches)

Also wondered if there was a standard approach when a socket needed cutting that was wider than the chisels to hand.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

probably right - but it feels like an age to get those small few cubic inches of wood out with a light chisel and palm pressure or gentle persuader. Final fitting is done when it's starting to look like an instrument, but since I dont use a tailed router (the usual method these days) I cut my mortice when it is still just a squared block (anything up to 4x5x8 inches)

Perhaps a mortice chisel would do then if your blanks are big and solid enough, but a 3/4 is a big beast normally used for timber framing, gates or very big joinery and furniture.
Are you doing it all by hand? If not, you really need a morticer - much easier to use than a router and less dust, noise etc. Large mortices can easily be made even on a small machine with 1/2" max chisel.

Also wondered if there was a standard approach when a socket needed cutting that was wider than the chisels to hand.

Cheers
Steve

More nibbling!

cheers
Jacob

 

[dunbarhamlin]

Thanks Jacob.
Yes, by hand. Since this is for pleasure not profit, I try to use as few power tools as practicable. I do have a little router, but it sits in the corner collecting dust. The only exceptions are my band saw (but this is on probation - except for veneers I now rip by hand and have table and compass saws to fettle) and sanding machines (a drum sander gets plates to 80/1000" far better than I can, and though I enjoy my rasps, a spindle sander is great boon for compound curves in the aforementioned blanks once the joint is cut)
Cheers
Steve